Improve Legal Education by Consulting More with Legal Educationists

Section 7(1)(h) of the Advocates Act, 1961, requires the BCI “to lay down standards of... (legal) education in consultation with Universities imparting such education”. Past records do not suggest any meaningful consultation with law universities, and the National Knowledge Commission has made strong note of this deficit. The Legal Education Committee of the BCI has only 2 legal educationists as its members, out of a total of 36! As a result of this consultative deficit, law schools have been thrust with norms that are often alien to them and excessively burdensome to comply with. Norms around legal education should be primarily determined by those that work as legal educationists in a full time capacity. Some law professors have drafted a letter to the BCI protesting against this lack of consultation. It is available here.

Letter to

Bar Council of India (BCI)

I've just signed the below letter to the BCI and would urge you to do the same, if you are interested in improving the state of legal education in India...............Dear Bar Council of India (BCI):

Section 7(1)(h) of the Advocates Act, 1961, requires the BCI “to lay down standards of... (legal) education in consultation with Universities imparting such education”. Past records do not suggest any meaningful consultation with law universities, and the National Knowledge Commission has made strong note of this deficit.

The Legal Education Committee of the BCI has only 2 legal educationists as its members, out of a total of 36! As a result of this consultative deficit, law schools have been thrust with norms that are often alien to them and excessively burdensome to comply with.

Norms around legal education should be primarily determined by those that work as legal educationists in a full time capacity. We call upon the Bar Council of India to consult more meaningfully with legal academics (educationists) and to have a majority of them to constitute its legal education committee. This will help improve the state of legal education in India. ----------------